Boat Pose
What Is the Boat Pose?
Boat Pose is a compound exercise that primarily targets the core and also engages the hip flexors, the front of the thighs and the back extensors. It is an intermediate-level movement, held rather than repeated, in which you balance on your sit bones with your legs straight and lifted, your torso leaning back and your arms reaching forward so your body forms a V. Its Sanskrit name is Paripurna Navasana, which translates as Full Boat Pose.
The pose builds endurance in the muscles that hold the trunk up and the legs off the floor at the same time, and it trains balance because only a small area under the pelvis stays in contact with the floor. In Ashtanga Yoga it is part of the primary series, held for five breaths and repeated five times with a lift-up between rounds, and many other yoga classes use it as their main core pose. Outside a yoga class it works as a no-equipment core hold next to a Plank or a Hollow Hold.
The hip flexors do much of the work of keeping the legs up, the abdominals keep the torso from tipping back, and the back extensors keep the spine long and the chest lifted. Bending the knees shortens the lever of the legs and makes the pose much easier while keeping the balance and trunk demand, and straightening the legs is what makes it the full pose. Reaching the arms overhead instead of forward makes the hold harder again, and holding the backs of the thighs with the hands makes it easier.
Boat Pose suits people who can already hold a plank comfortably and want a seated core challenge that also trains balance. If you cannot keep your chest lifted with straight legs, hold it with the knees bent and the shins parallel to the floor, and build trunk endurance with the Dead Bug and the Hollow Hold. Tight hamstrings also limit how straight the legs can go, so bend the knees rather than round the back to reach the full shape.
Muscles Worked
- Rectus Abdominis
- Primary
- Rectus Abdominis (Lower)
- Primary
- External Oblique
- High
- Rectus Femoris
- High
- Erector Spinae
- Medium
- Sartorius
- Medium
- Tensor Fasciae Latae
- Medium
- Deltoid
- Low
Instructions
- Sit on the floor with your knees bent, your feet flat and together, and your hands on the floor just behind your hips.
- Lift your chest and lengthen your spine so you sit tall.
- Lean back slightly until you are balancing on your sit bones, keeping your back long rather than rounded.
- Lift your feet off the floor until your shins are parallel to the floor.
- Reach your arms straight forward at about shoulder height, palms facing each other.
- Straighten your knees and extend your legs up at an angle, legs together and toes pointed, until your toes are a little above eye level.
- Keep your chest lifted, your shoulders down away from your ears and your gaze forward, so your body forms a V.
- Breathe slowly and steadily and hold for 3 to 5 breaths to start.
- To come out, bend your knees, lower your feet to the floor and sit up.
Common Mistakes
Rounding the lower back
Sinking back onto the tailbone with a rounded spine to lift the legs higher shifts the strain into the lower back instead of keeping the trunk muscles working.
Forcing straight legs
Straightening the knees before the chest can stay lifted, often because of tight hamstrings, collapses the torso, so keep the knees bent until you can hold both.
Collapsing the chest
Letting the chest sink and the shoulders round forward shortens the front of the body and breaks the long V from the hips to the head.
Shrugging the shoulders
Lifting the shoulders toward the ears to hold the arms up creates neck tension, so keep the shoulders down and reach forward through the fingertips.
Holding the breath
Bracing by holding the breath raises tension and makes the hold harder to sustain, so keep breathing slowly and steadily.
Injuries
Boat Pose is a low risk exercise when performed with proper technique. It carries no external load and you can bend your knees and put your feet down at any moment, so the main concerns are the lower back, the front of the hips and the tailbone.
The lower back takes the most strain when the spine rounds and you sink back onto the tailbone, which often happens when the legs are straightened before the trunk can hold the chest up. The hip flexors can also pull hard on the lower spine in a long hold, and some people feel a pinch at the front of the hip or a cramp in the hip flexors. Balancing on a hard floor can bruise the tailbone, so use a mat or a folded blanket under the pelvis. Keep your chest lifted, your shoulders relaxed and your knees bent until you can straighten the legs without the back rounding.
To make it easier, keep the knees bent with the shins parallel to the floor, hold the backs of the thighs, or keep the toes lightly on the floor while you lean back. To progress, straighten the legs, hold for more breaths or more rounds, reach the arms overhead, or move on to the V-Up or the L-Sit.
A strong burn in the abdominals and the front of the hips is expected. Stop if you feel sharp pain in the lower back, pinching in the front of the hip, pain at the tailbone, or dizziness, and lower your feet to the floor. If you are pregnant, recently postpartum, or have a hernia, abdominal separation or a recent back injury, check with a doctor or physical therapist before practicing this pose.
- Primary Focus
- Core
- Equipment
- Body weight
- Modality
- Yoga
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
Alternative Exercises
Other Names for the Boat Pose
The Boat Pose is also known as:
- Paripurna Navasana
- Full Boat Pose
Frequently Asked Questions
- Q: How long should I hold Boat Pose?
Start with 3 to 5 slow breaths, rest, and repeat, then build toward 5 rounds of 5 breaths, the way the pose is practiced in Ashtanga Yoga. A few shorter holds with the chest lifted are more useful than one long hold with the back rounded.
- Q: Does Boat Pose work the abs or just the hip flexors?
Both. The hip flexors hold the legs up, and the abdominals work hard to keep the torso from tipping back: in a lab study of 22 healthy, yoga-trained adults, boat pose drew the highest rectus abdominis and transverse abdominis activity of the 16 poses tested, more than half of a maximal contraction, against about 30% in plank pose.
- Q: Is Boat Pose the same as a V-Up or a Hollow Hold?
No. A V-Up folds up and lowers back down for reps, while Boat Pose is held still. A Hollow Hold is also a hold, but you lie on your back with the lower back pressed to the floor and the shoulders and legs only just lifted, while Boat Pose sits up on the sit bones with the chest lifted and the spine long.
- Q: What if my hamstrings are too tight to straighten my legs?
Keep your knees bent with your shins parallel to the floor. You still train the balance and the trunk while your spine stays long, and you can straighten the legs a little more as your flexibility and strength improve.
- Q: What is the difference between Boat Pose and Half Boat Pose?
Half Boat Pose, or Ardha Navasana, is a different shape in which the torso and legs are only partly raised, and some traditions also place the hands behind the head. Boat Pose is the full version, holding a high V with the legs straight and the arms reaching forward.